I’ve helped clients use Equity Release for a variety of good reasons ranging from buying property, funding a round-the-world cruise, helping children…and many others. Some clients have used it to pay off credit card debts and loans thereby reducing their outgoings and making themselves better off each month.

Figures released at the end of 2017* by Retirement Advantage - a leading Equity Release lender -showed that around 35% of their customers used Equity Release to clear an existing mortgage and/or consolidate unsecured debt.

One of the benefits in using a lifetime mortgage to consolidate debts is that the need for monthly repayments is removed, increasing disposable income. You can choose to make repayments if you wish, with the flexibility to start and stop this when it suits you.

If you choose not to make repayments, the interest is compounded and added to the loan to be repaid when either all borrowers have died or moved permanently into care – in either case they would have no further use for the property. At this point the property would usually be sold, with the Equity Release loan repaid from the sale proceeds.

Equity Release is available to home owners over the age of 55 and minimum release starts, typically, at £10,000.

Do you have questions about Equity Release? Call our advisor Michael Hodgetts on 01473 730999 or visit our website at www.lighthouseplatinum.com to find out more.

Repaying secured or unsecure loans with a lifetime mortgage that charges compound interest may increase the true cost of the borrowing.

Equity Release may involve a lifetime mortgage or a home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks of an Equity Release scheme please ask for a personalised illustration. Equity Release may not be right for everyone. It may affect your entitlement to State benefits and will reduce the value of your estate. Check that this mortgage will meet your needs if you want to move or sell your home or want your family to inherit it.

You will need to take independent legal advice before entering an Equity Release arrangement. Lighthouse Platinum Wealth Management Ltd is an appointed representative of Lighthouse Advisory Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

*Moneyfacys.co.uk- the research was carried out by Retirement Advantage